


Basement Confessions

by orphan_account



Series: Tumblr Works [10]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Adorable, Confessions, Fluff, M/M, Modern AU, basement bops, its cute, its short, two boys - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:49:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25408702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: @eraseyourbookofstories: will and mike talk about crushes and they do not realize the other one is talking about them until mike accidentally says something incredibly specific and will's like "WAIT i was the one that did _____ with you"
Relationships: Will Byers/Mike Wheeler
Series: Tumblr Works [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1769854
Comments: 9
Kudos: 97





	Basement Confessions

It was a normal, average day in Will’s mind. He and Mike were just hanging out in his basement. They were laying down on the carpeted floor and there was some music playing from the spotify playlist Will made on his phone. Not speaking.

Some may find it weird to just lay there with no words shared between the two but to Will it wasn’t. With Mike it’s like they don’t need to talk to communicate. They could just give each other a look or a quick touch and they would know what the other was trying to say. Sometimes he couldn’t get the words out or couldn’t express what was going on in the deeper parts of his mind, but Mike did. He got it. Will believes that Mike knows his own brain more than himself.

Except there’s one small thing that Mike doesn’t know. Will Byers stupidly and utterly liked him. More than a friend, and way more than a best friend. As in like, _ please let me be your boyfriend so I can kiss your stupid face  _ type of way. Will can’t help it. It’s so cliche to fall in love with your childhood friend but he’s not some straight guy from a stupid Hallmark movie his mom watches. The only thing stopping him from telling Mike is not wanting to ruin their friendship. Mike already came out as gay a year later than Will did, so no sexuality issues in the way. Just might have to sacrifice a ten year friendship.

_ No biggie. _

Will tuned in as soon as ‘Like Real People Do’ was hitting the chorus.  _ Honey just put your sweet lips on my lips. We should just kiss like real people do _ . He doesn’t remember putting this song on the Basement Bops playlist (named by Dustin), but it’s on now. Ironic. He glanced over to the boy beside him who had his eyes closed and rested like there was no care in the world. His eyelashes were touching his high cheekbones, which were covered in those freckles that he’s in love with. Junior year is hard, for sure. Tests and College applications were thrown at them left and right. It was tiring and Will’s happy he could at least rest with Mike beside him. Even if it's only for a weekend.

“Take a picture. Might last longer.”, Mike said casually, not even moving a muscle. Will rolled his eyes and silently blushed, not looking at the other boy's direction anymore. “Don’t flatter yourself, Wheeler.”. Mike opened his eyes and slightly grimaced at being called his last name, so he lightly hit Will’s shoulder with a nearby pillow. Will groaned as Mike began to speak, “You sound like Max. Don’t do that to yourself.”

“She’s not even that bad”, Will sat up and yanked the pillow out of Mike’s hand, “you’re just mean.” He hit him on the chest with it, and laughed at the noise he made. “That hurt, Will! You’ve wounded me.”. Mike stretched his limbs out and put on a pained face. Will wanted to hit him again with the pillow for being the over dramatic theater nerd that he is. “Good. Might teach you some manners.”

“Manners my ass! You drew first blood-”

“There’s no blood.”, Will pointed out.

“But there COULD’VE been. Either way, you have to say sorry.”

Will crossed his arms like a stubborn child and shrugged. “Says who?”. Mike sat up to face him, having his arms behind his back, resting them on the ground for support. “Says me, dickwad.”. Will shook his head at his friend’s immature insults. “Oh, Mike”, he deadpanned, “I am now the one to be hurt.”. The other boy laughed and Will felt his chest flutter up.  _ Stop being gay for five minutes,Will. Who cares if that’s the best sound you ever heard?  _

“I could start calling you William-”. “Don’t you dare.”, Will quickly cut him off. He is not a William, he is a Will. “But you call me Michael!”, Mike retorted, now sitting up and putting his arms on his lap. “That’s different.”. He rolled his eyes and leaned forward, “How so?”. “I’m cute when I do it.”. With that response Will booped his nose and smiled. Mike’s face turned red and Will laughed. “Flustered much, Michael?”

“Shut up.”

_ I knew that look dear, eyes always seeking, was there in someone, _ the music softly played in the back. Sometimes Will thought that Mike might like him back. Which sounds crazy. Sounds wild too, but something has to be there right? At times, Will would look up and Mike would already be looking at him or he would randomly grab Will’s hand and never say anything about it. Maybe it’s all in his head. Will looked Mike in the eyes and his heart did a backflip while Mike gave him a small and sincere smile. Then he looked away. _ It’s all in my head. _

“Will, can I tell you something?”, the other boy tapped Will’s shoulder. Without even thinking Will responded, “Anything.” Anything could be so many things but sometimes it's worth it. “I like a boy at school.”. Okay, so maybe it meant one thing and it was not indeed worth it.

Will felt his heart pang and instantly he wished he would’ve said no. Why couldn’t he just keep that fake world a possibility? Why does he have to go and say ‘anything’ like a love sick fool? “Oh?”, he pretended to seem interested, although he wasn’t.

“Yup, ‘oh’. Do you like anyone?”, Mike sounded hopeful and he wondered why. To make fun of him? To talk about their crushes? Will’s heart was pounding in his chest. _Why does he even care?_ _It’s not like it means anything_. He looked at the other boy and decided the least he could do was say he did like someone. Someone that is actually in this very room.

“Yeah.”

Mike seemed intrigued and scooted closer in which Will backed his face up slightly. Too close. “What’s their name?”. He shook his head, “Like I’d tell you.”. He never would. No matter how  many sleepless nights it earned him or how many tissues that dried up tears, he wouldn’t tell Mike.

“But we’re best friends, you’re kinda mandatory to tell me.”, the tall boy pointed out. His face looked stubborn and it was one of those days Will wished Mike wouldn’t be so persistent. “Fine. Tell me yours first.” Mike’s face flushed and he shook his own head. “I asked you first though!”. “‘But we’re best friends, you’re kinda mandatory to tell me’.”, Will mocked him. Mike hit him with the pillow near them, and Will quickly grabbed it. “Stop hitting me, Michael.”

Mike pulled it away, and hit him again with it. “Stop calling me ‘Michael’.” He pouted and made a child’s face. “Okay, calm down”, Will put his hands up, showing him surrendering. Mike mumbled a ‘thank you’ under his breath and put the pillow down. He eyed the pillow before grabbing it and hitting Mike with it. “Gotch ya, Michael.”

The taller boy looked shocked but quickly recovered. He straightened his spine and covered Will’s vision by simply grabbing another random pillow and threw it at his face. “Ouch!”. The boys kept hitting each other with the two pillows and Will felt like he was five again.

He remembers them doing this exact thing but with chubbier fingers and louder giggles. They were small little creatures back then. Their brains not fully developed, their minds never truly made up, and they laughed as high as the sky. Doing this right now made Will flashback to when Mike was small. Sassy, clingy, and just flat out perfect. Like now, almost. Actually, one hundred percent now.

But Mike has changed too. He’s matured and grown. He’s been through bigger struggles than losing his favorite crayon, he’s been happier than when his mom let him watch tv. Mike has evolved and Will has been by his side the entire time, evolving with him. No longer having chubby cheeks, and little legs. Their friendship feelings might be more, for Will.

It took them years to get where they are now. 

Happy.

Well, he was happy until Mike just bitch slapped him with a pillow. “You asshole, I’m hurt!”, Will hit the other boy one last time before putting the pillow down. “Oh shit, are you okay?”, Mike’s grin quickly disappeared and he suddenly looked scared. He put down his own weapon and grabbed Will’s face. “Did I bruise it?”

Will couldn’t respond. His face was too close for him to even process anything Mike was saying. His damn freckles were shining out too much and his lips. Mike’s way that he slightly bit his lip and oh my gosh he just has it bad. He slowly grabbed Mike’s hand off of his face and put it on the floor. “I’m good.”. Mike didn’t look fully convinced and shook his head. “Are you sure though?”. He nodded, still looking at Mike’s lips. “Positive.”

Once again they sat there, but now Will has a different view that he can’t quite look away at. Imagine having Mike Wheeler at your fingertips but never able to just grab his hand. If you need help imagining it, here’s an example: Being able to never taste your favorite candy. It’s right there and if you can just reach it you can have it. But you are too short to get it. That's what it's like.

“This boy I like, he’s awesome.”, Mike said out of nowhere. Will moved his eyes to somewhere else in the room. “Really?”. It’s not hard to find someone better than Will. Just look anywhere else. “Yeah, he’s just super brilliant and he makes me feel a way no one has before.” How do you respond when the person you’re in love with describes being in love with someone else?

“That’s great, Mike.”

“Not really”, his voice lowered, “it’s scary. Being in love, that it is.”

Will gets it. Way too much, actually. “What makes it scary?”, he asked, although he already knew. The constant fear that they’d think of you in disgust or that they would leave you at any given moment. Scary is to light of a word. Terrified fits it better.

Mike laid down and gestured for Will to lay next to him, in which he did. “That they might never replicate the same feelings. That they will never look at you the way you look at them-”, he began. “- and no matter how hard and long you think about them, your name barely even comes up in an occasional thought.”, Will finished that thought. 

“Yeah, and it just sucks. I think about him so much and I try my hardest to be the best I can be for him but I’m never enough. I want to just grab his face and say how much he means to me no matter what his brain may tell him. Do you ever feel like that about the guy you're into?”

“All the time”, he slightly laughed, “he never leaves my brain, I swear. No matter how many different songs I listen to or any movie I can see, he’s just there. And it’s hard to think that he will never think of me like that. Will never miss me when he’s alone in his room like I do with him.”

Mike nodded and slightly rested his head on Will’s shoulder. The action made him want to scream with joy but he shoved it down into his stomach. “Wanna tell me more about this guy?”, Will asked in a quiet voice. He actually hated whoever Mike was in love with for the sole reason that the boy he was in love with loved him instead. But he asked for the sake of his friend. He will always be Mike’s best friend first. 

“He’s super sarcastic. Like most of the time people are confused if he’s being serious or not but I know.”, Mike began and he seemed to smile at the thought of the other boy. Will only nodded his head. His breaths were settling down, slow and steady. “He is incredibly talented. Whatever he does is totally perfect, but he never believes me when I tell him. He’ll just give me the cutest bashful look and quietly disagree. Sometimes it’s just so frustrating because how do you tell someone that they are perfect?”

Will sighed and he hoped Mike took that as him agreeing. Whoever Mike is in love with, needs to know how much Mike cares. It pains Will knowing that Mike is in pain. This guy must be in his theater club or something if he knows a lot about him though. Maybe Will could tell him for Mike?  _ It’s ridiculous. I’m so in love that I would tell someone about Mike’s feelings for them as long as he’s happy. _

Mike shifted, and as he spoke he seemed so dazed. “He’s also in love with museums. Like for anything. Super into Greek and Art ones. He just says this thing when looking at a painting that always gets to me. ‘Look a little closer and you might find one stroke that-’”

“‘-means more than the others’.”, Will finished the other boy’s sentence, his heart pounding. That’s what  _ he _ says. Him and Mike just went to a museum outside of town a few days ago and Will was looking at a painting for too long and Mike was ready to go and that's exactly what he said to him. Word for word. “Yea- oh shit.”, he sat up. 

Will sat up and faced him. “Oh shit.”, he repeated back. Mike held his own hand and sat there quiet for a moment. He needs to respond because  _ my heart is pounding and I’m ready to vomit from the nervousness _ . “I guess now is the time to tell you”, Mike bit on his lip, “I don’t know- how to share with you that- I”. He stumbled over his words repeatedly. 

He debated how he could handle this situation. Will could stutter and stumble too or he can do something a little stupid. He pushed up and laid a soft kiss on Mike’s lips. His chapped lips met another and Mike froze. Will has only kissed a boy once, behind the school from someone in his art club. He didn’t want to kiss that boy. Only did it to say he kissed someone. That one felt rushed and overall not good.

But this one? This one was perfect. It made him feel warm and cozy. The world seemed to pause on a sunny day that Will couldn’t drink enough sunlight. Mike responded and pressed back and rested his hands on Will’s waste. 

Will took his slow, precious time, savoring every little bit of it. It was just lips and that’s all he needed right now. Just having Mike’s hands on his waist and his lips on his very own. It was like heaven came to earth and entered Wheeler's basement because  _ holy shit I’m kissing Mike Wheeler and Mike Wheeler happens to be kissing me back _ .

Will couldn’t breath so he pulled away to gather something called oxygen. Mike took a deep breath and released it. “I hope that guy you like isn’t going to be too upset with me”, the other boy spoke with a light smile on his lips. “Oh he shouldn’t be too mad”, Will shrugged.

Mike laughed and so did Will. “So, just to check, we just uh kissed, right? Or am I daydreaming again?”, he asked in a lowtone. “Are you implying that you’ve daydreamed this before?”, Will smirked. “I- yeah. Yeah I have and I just need a little bit of reassurance because if my brain is just playing some sick game-”, Mike began to ramble.

Will quickly cut him off with another kiss. It was not longer than two seconds but a kiss was a kiss. “Oh. So it's real…?”. He swatted Mike playfully in which the other boy nodded and rested his forehead lightly on Will’s. “Very real, Wheeler. At least I hope so.”

“Me too.”

Will heard his breathing and silently thanked whoever was up there for this. “I don’t know if you can’t tell, but that person who I was talking about was you.”, Mike breathed out. Will bumped their noses, his heart still racing. “No, really?”, he said sarcastically. “I know, surprising. I was shocked.”

“How long did you know? About liking me.”

Mike put on a thinking face and nodded once he decided on a thought. “Since we were five.”

Will grinned and pressed another kiss. And another. And another. Because he happens to be able to reach that candy he wanted. It’s right  _ here _ , in fact. Mike grinned into the kisses and just looking at Mike made his heart pound from pure joy. “So, Will, I happen to think you are awesome and I know I just fessed up to liking you mere minutes ago but I was wondering if you would like to consider yourself more than my best friend?”, Mike spoke softly. Like it was a secret for just the two of them.

“Like bestest friends?”, Will replied with a playful smile on his lips.

“No- oh. You’re joking, duh. I mean be my boyfriend. Like dating and stuff.”, he spoke nervously and he decided he was going to give Mike a little break and slightly nodded.

With true sincerity Will responded, “I think I would enjoy that, Mike.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely positive. I don’t think there is another person out in the world that would ever take your place.”

“You better not be joking, Byers”, he said trying to seem playful but there was some insecurity underneath that fake tone. It made Will’s heart hurt and he didn't want that any longer. “Mike, in this large picture of the world, you are my one paint stroke that means something. That is different from the rest. The thing I’ve been searching for.”, he put a hand through Mike’s hair and something inside of Mike calmed down and he gave a small, real, smile to Will. 

“Okay. Will?”

“Yeah?”

“Love you.”

“I love you too, Michael.”

“Stop calling me that!!”


End file.
